May 23, 2009: D.A.R.C. Observatory

David Cooper

I began my session observing H400 objects in Corvus and Virgo and remained in these two constellations until about midnight when I noticed how clear and dark the southern sky was clear down to the horizon. This is one of the great advantages of this site – it has, in my opinion, the best southern horizon of any bay area site with no light domes or hills in the way. Much of the constellation Centaurus was clear and distinct although low on the horizon so I decided to try for Centaurus A (5128) and omega Centauri (5139) and was totally blown away by both objects. The dust band that bisects the galaxy was clear and distinct separating it into two lobes, the southernmost of which contains a bright star that resembles a bright nucleus. The northernmost lobe is fainter and devoid of any foreground stars and appears somewhat faded in the middle. Next I dropped down to the giant globular omega Centauri and was stunned by the giant ball of stars that filled up over half of the field in my 21 mm Pentax eyepiece. This object is huge and was surprisingly bright considering how low it was on the horizon – it is like M22 on steroids. The stars were resolved into an explosion of pinpoints. This object must be quite stunning when viewed directly overhead from the southern sky - I definitely need to plan a trip to the southern hemisphere. Are there any TACos interested in planning a southern star party? Maybe the next GSSP should be held in Chile – we could call it the Great Southern Star Party.

After omega I jumped up to M83 in Hydra and was treated to a beautiful view of this non-uniform oval galaxy with a very bright stellar-like core. In the 10.5 mm Pentax at 103x this galaxy appeared as a suspended gem in a very dark field of background stars. The views of these three objects alone made the observing session worthwhile. Other objects observed included:

3621
4361
4027
4038
3962
M104
5054
4856
5694
4958
495
4781/4762/4760
4699
M60/M59/4638
5350/5354/5353/5338
3665
3631
3675
3941
6960/6992
M22
M8
M20
M27
M57
M97
M3
M4
M5

Altogether this was a very satisfying observing session – too bad I finally had to go to bed before sunrise. I am rapidly becoming re-addicted to this hobby and may have to really get serious and buy an 18” Dobsonian. I would like to thank Bob and Lee of D.A.R.C. Observatory for graciously hosting the event.